Here at Chiot’s Run we follow the Nourishing Traditions way of eating. That means that grains and nuts are soaked to make them more digestible and to make the nutrients more available to our bodies. We try to eat as healthy as possible and thus the proper preparation of nuts/legumes/seeds allows us to get the most nutrition from these healthy foods.
Soaking nuts/seeds/legumes reduces their physic acid content. I won’t go into the details of the why/how, head on over and read this article on the Weston A Price foundation website for an in depth explanation of phytic acid and it’s effect on digestion and nutrition. You can also head over to Nourishing Gourmet for a Q & A on soaking for improved digestion as well as a guidelines for other types of nuts like cashews.
You may wonder if it’s worth it to spend the time and effort on soaking. I certainly have noticed a huge difference in the way my body digests foods when they’re properly prepared. Also, if I’m taking the time and money to seek out and buy the best quality ingredients I’m willing to spend a few extra moments making sure I’m getting the most for my money by preparing them properly. Nuts are also much more tasty when prepared this way, once you try them you’ll be hooked!CRISPY SOAKED WALNUTS
from Nourishing Traditions

Put two teaspoons of salt into mason jar and add 4 cups of filtered water, stir until salt is dissolved. Put walnuts into jar. If water does not cover nuts, add more water until nuts are covered. Let sit overnight. Drain, spread nuts onto cookie sheet and dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours (no higher than 150 degrees, I used 140) stir occasionally until dry and crispy. Store in a tightly covered glass jar in the fridge. You can also dry in a dehydrator if you have one. My oven has a dehydrate setting so I’ve never bothered buying a dehydrator.

Nuts can still be difficult to digest so it’s best to consume them with some yogurt or other cultured dairy product, or they can be thrown into soups as bone broth also helps our bodies digest nuts more easily.

*this recipe can also be used for pecans, other varieties of nuts may require different soaking times and different amounts of salt.
I usually make a double or triple batch when I make nuts, or soak a few different varieties at once to make sure I have the oven filled to make best use of my time and the energy. My favorite way to enjoy crispy walnuts is sprinkled on top of yogurt then drizzled with some maple syrup and a dusting of sweet cinnamon. Now that’s a nourishing breakfast or late night snack that’ll provide all kinds of healthy deliciousness (sometimes I’ll even throw an egg yolk in for extra goodness).

If you have good tap water you could use that, or you can simply run your tap water through a Brita or Pur Filter. Since we live in a gas/oil area and there’s a huge garbage dump 15 miles away that’s always being fined by the EPA for lack of proper liners, we filter all of our drinking/cooking water through a Berkey Water Filter to remove all the arsenic, heavy metals and other contaminants (which are allowable to certain limits in drinking water). Berkey also filters out all the cleansing agents used at the water treatment plant like chlorine and all the agricultural runoff that makes it’s way into the water like nitrates/nitrites. We also use the extra fluoride filters to remove that from the water as well as it’s added in our area and we’re not comfortable drinking it.

A water filter would definitely be a great investment, especially if someone in your household has digestive issues, as the contaminants can cause lots of health problems. The Berkey is a high quality filter with fairly inexpensive operating costs since the filters last so long and only needed scrubbed every 6 months to clean them. We like it because there’s no plumbing needed, simple pour water in the top and there’s a spigot at the bottom to fill glasses & pitchers with filtered water. PS – I am in no way paid by Berkey to say this, we just really love the filter and know of many other people that have them and love them too!

For you son that has digestive issues I’d highly recommend reading Nourishing Traditions. It includes lots of advice on ways to improve digestion and absorption of nutrients from food.

I will definitely try this! I have soaked/fermented oatmeal, rice, and beans overnight with a bit of apple cider vinegar, but have never tried or even thought of nuts ~ thanks so much for the information! Also, have never heard of an oven with a “dehydrate” setting ~ what kind of oven is that?

Cashews, cobnuts, almonds, chesnuts and walnuts were my favs but…Sigh…..i love nuts but sadly after many happy years of eating them I had an allergic reaction…a bad one :( so now armed with epi pen I avoid them.
Whats even worse is I have 3 Walnut trees at home, so I dry lots of those for my other half to eat.

I’ve never heard of soaking nuts, although I’ve heard of soaking grains for better digestion. I’m wondering, is the salt needed in the process or do you just add that for taste? I don’t usually like salted nuts, so I’m wondering if I could try it without the salt. Also, could I just use them wet in something like granola where I will be baking the mixture in the oven? Or do you think it would be beneficial to dry them first and then add them? Thanks for the information!

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.